Real Madrid and PSG take the lead in the Champions League

Desperate for points to stay alive in the tournament, Real Madrid and Paris SG breathed a sigh of relief with victories on Tuesday against Atalanta (3-2) and Salzburg (3-0) in the 6th matchday of the tournament. Meanwhile, Liverpool maintained their perfect record with a 1-0 win in Girona.

A solitary penalty goal by Egyptian Mohamed Salah in the second half (63rd) gave the 'Reds' the win on their visit to Girona, to reach 18 points and have, with two matches left to finish the first phase, an almost guaranteed direct qualification to the round of 16, reserved for the best eight teams in the initial group.

The Catalans, meanwhile, are virtually eliminated (30th, 3 points).

Leverkusen topple Inter

The English team is five points ahead of Bayer Leverkusen (2nd), who beat Inter (4th) with a solitary goal by Nordi Mukiele.

Also on 13 points are Unai Emery's Aston Villa, who defeated an already almost hopeless RB Leipzig 3-2, one of the goals scored by young Colombian striker Jhon Duran, and surprise of the night were French side Brest, who beat PSV Eindhoven 1-0 and have a very favorable position to qualify for the play-offs.

These teams, however, could be overtaken by Barcelona or Borussia Dortmund, both on 12 points before they meet in Germany on Wednesday.

Closing out the provisional 'Top 8,' which gives access to play directly the round of 16 without going through a preliminary play-off (reserved for qualifiers between places 9 and 24), is Bayern Munich, who thrashed Shakhtar Donetsk 5-1.

Mbappé injured

A little closer to that 'Top 8' is Real Madrid, which reached 9 points after winning in Bergamo and breathes a sigh of relief after an irregular trajectory in Champions (three wins and as many defeats).

The reigning European champions were led by their stars Kylian Mbappé, Vinicius and Jude Bellingham, scorers of the Merengues goals (10th, 56th and 59th minutes respectively).

The negative news was the withdrawal due to injury of Mbappé shortly after scoring, although the extent of the discomfort is unknown for now.

"He has an overload, a discomfort in the ischium. We have to see him in the next few days. It doesn't seem serious, but he had to stop, because he couldn't sprint... it was bothering him a little bit. So we preferred to change him," said Real Madrid's Italian coach, Carlo Ancelotti about the injury of the Gallic star.

The Italians, who with the defeat drop out of the 'Top 8' (9th with 11 points) put up a fight, with goals from Belgian Charles de Ketelaere (45+2 on penalty) and Nigerian Ademola Lookman (65), the most unbalanced of the home players.

Italian nationalized Argentine Mateo Retegui, who played the last 20 minutes, came very close to equalizing with two clear chances in the final moments, but Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was once again decisive in Real Madrid's success.

Even more in a hurry than Real Madrid was another of the title contenders, Paris SG, who traveled to Austria being out of the next round.

Gonçalo Ramos leads the way

Ultra-dominant throughout the match, Luis Enrique's men took the win with goals from Portugal's Gonçalo Ramos (30), Portugal's Nuno Mendes(72) and young midfielder Désiré Doué (85).

"To be honest, we didn't play a better game than against Atletico Madrid or PSV Eindhoven," admitted PSG's Spanish coach Luis Enrique, referring to two of the games the French failed to win.

"The statistics say so; we have had fewer goal chances," he argued.

With this victory, PSG have 7 points and move up to 23rd place, although they will host Manchester City the following matchday in January and finish the group at Stuttgart, so it will still be a tough task for Parisian fans.

In Tuesday's other match, Dinamo Zagreb (23rd, 8 points) and Celtic Glasgow (19th with 9 points) played out a goalless draw in Croatia, a result that for now keeps both in the 'Top 24'.